NAIDOC stands for National Aboriginals and Islanders Day Observance Committee.
Its origins can be traced to the emergence of Aboriginal groups in the 1920′s, which sought to increase awareness in the wider community of the status and treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australia.
This year’s theme is Voice, Treaty, Truth.
Nathan Lygon celebrated with us again this year. Nathan provided a Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony. Nathan shared a local story that deepened the children’s and educators’ knowledge of Connecting to Country and how the natural environment provides connections through the seasons between the bush and the sea. We connect to Country through deep listening and observation of the natural environment that we live, work and play in through the seasons. Connection to Country is embedded in the preschool’s daily rituals and routines, nurturing a sense of place.
A sense of place is one of the fundamental ‘felt’ senses a person develops, along with the sense of self and sense of community. A sense of place is associated with local areas with particular importance during childhood. Influenced by the direct experience of playing, as well as through the role of family, culture, and childhood, environments create a ‘primal landscape’. This childhood landscape forms part of an individual’s identity and sense of belonging and constitutes a key point of comparison for considering subsequent places later in life.
Thank you Nathan. We are privileged to have you for a fourth year of sharing and learning culture, music, art and language.
